A. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to personal assistance devices. Such devices as well as methods for use therewith are provided.
B. Background
Falls are a major source of accidental injury worldwide. Although the fall itself can cause significant and even fatal injury due to impact, victims often suffer additional injury while trying to recover from the fall into a sitting or standing position. Difficulties and injuries resulting from attempts to stand or sit are especially common when the victim is elderly, physically disabled, or badly injured from the fall.
If a victim is unable to rise to a standing or sitting position, then they are helpless to obtain food, obtain water, take any needed medications, sit on the toilet, or move to a telephone to call for help. In some cases the fall victim may be bleeding, and unable to reach medical supplies to stanch the wound (this is especially true of older victims who are more likely to be taking prescription blood thinners). Fall victims sometimes die of thirst or blood loss for this reason, even if they are not badly hurt by the fall.
In addition, in attempting to stand or sit the victim may injure herself further. For example, a victim attempting to rise to a standing position might fall again. The exertion can cause muscle injuries in the victim's arms, shoulder, or back.
Even when another person is available to help, raising a fallen person can be risky. Human beings are of course heavy, and it can be difficult to properly balance while attempting to draft or lift a person. That can cause injury to the person assisting the victim, who may fall or sustain a muscle injury due to the heavy and unbalanced load. Lifting a person requires a firm grip on the victim to assure that the victim is not dropped, and this can result in bruising or other injuries to the victim if the assistant is not very careful. In addition, improper lifting or dragging technique can cause joint dislocations in the victim.
Ideally there would be a way that a fall victim can easily recover from a fall without assistance, which could also facilitate the safe lifting of the victim.
Russo (U.S. Pat. No. 7,444,693), for example, attempted to address the problem with a lift device that is a flat blanket with a plurality of inflatable bladders. The victim lies on the blanket, and the bladders inflate, raising the victim's back. However, such a device is inherently unstable. Air bladders must be made of flexible material in order to be inflatable; otherwise they cannot change shape and inflate. When inflated, the flexible air bladders will inevitably shift and change shape under the victim's weight. This provides an unstable platform for a victim attempting to stand up, which could result in another fall. In addition, the flexible bladders in Russo's device would not be rigid enough to allow the victim to be carried while on the device by rescuers.